Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Vaccine Info
  • Money
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Vaccine Info
    Money
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism
CT VIEWPOINTS -- opinions from around Connecticut

A school funding inequity solution: Better housing policy

  • CT Viewpoints
  • by Alicia Woodsby
  • September 6, 2016
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

As I ferry my daughter to day-care each morning — fighting the traffic, the clock, her latest cold, or mine — I consider myself lucky. We enjoy many advantages: a good town, schools services and opportunity.

And as a mom who has devoted her professional life to creating the housing people need but can’t now afford, I know just how lucky I am.

A state Superior Court judge heard final arguments last month on the limits of the state’s responsibility in financing the education of all students, including those with low incomes living largely in urban school districts. He is expected to rule this week.

In the trial’s final days, he publicly wrung his hands, wondering how far he should go, and how far the state Supreme Court might allow him to go, in ordering the legislature to spend more money.

The lawsuit, brought by 11 parents backed by the Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education Funding, was filed more than a decade ago. How Superior Court Judge Thomas Moukawsher  will rule is unclear and only one of several vital questions:

Is the state spending enough on education now? Are those dollars being equitably distributed? Can the state afford to spend more? What are the limits to such a court order?

And how will the answers to those questions ultimately be impacted by a new federal lawsuit brought by a California educational advocacy group, which seeks to foster educational equity for “inner-city students” by upending state limits on new magnet and charter schools and the Open Choice program’s suburban education spots for city students.

Stuck in traffic on Rt. 2 last week, I checked the rear-view mirror for my little girl and remembered the message Harvard professor Robert Putnam brought to Hartford when he spoke here this summer:  That my Emilia is not my only child, that all children are my kids or, as Putnam says in his new book, “Our Kids.”

For while I can afford to live in a wealthy town — with smaller class sizes, more experienced teachers and many resources – Putnam says many children suffer because they were born to parents who can’t afford to live in such a community.

Putnam argues that my child should be only half my concern. Whether all “our kids”  can access such a resource-laden education is the other, equally important half for determining whether the American dream will persist. The research, from Montgomery County, MD to Mt. Laurel, NJ strongly indicates that children, and their parents, have better outcomes when they can live in those high-resource towns and access educational and other key resources.

Superior Court Judge Thomas Moukawsher.

Superior Court Judge Thomas Moukawsher.

Which brings us to one of Judge Moukawsher’s concerns. How can our state, our taxpayers, spend more to take care of all “our kids” when court decisions are already forcing the state to spend hundreds of millions of dollars desegregating Hartford schools and  caring for abused and neglected children?

As a mother, and a housing professional, I think I know one clear answer.

At the Partnership for Strong Communities, we say “a safe, affordable home is the foundation of opportunity.” Having enough choices of where to live allows parents to select the right school, neighborhood, job potential and array of services that work best for them and their children.

The problem is that only 31 of Connecticut’s 169 cities and towns have a reasonable amount of affordable homes. So the choices for many low- and moderate-income families are too often limited to communities with overburdened schools, few jobs, fewer services and tax bases too stressed to finance necessary municipal resources, educational or otherwise.

As a result, the legislature has sought to send more aid to those overburdened districts, but there are issues with the funding formula that led Judge Moukawsher to wonder why, for instance, certain strapped municipalities’ funding was reduced last year while some wealthier suburbs’ was increased.

We believe that better housing policy can fix a large part of the educational funding problem. Creating more affordable homes in municipalities with high-resource schools, jobs and quality services will provide those families with more choices and help close the achievement gap. It could also provide opportunity – jobs, training, healthcare, childcare, fresh food and more – to every member of the household and, perhaps most significantly, offer social and recreational resources to children during the 3 p.m. to 9 a.m. part of the day, not just during school hours.

Equally important, allowing some low- and moderate-income households to choose higher-resource districts will allow the present or future level of state aid – housing, community development, transportation and education —  to be more directly focused on the locations that really need it.

Not all households want to live in cities. But not all want to live in suburbs. Low- and moderate-income households deserve choices. There is little doubt that more aid to more burdened school districts can help. But the towns around the cities that do the heavy social lifting – by providing services for people who are experiencing homelessness or poverty or underemployment – can help, too. Maybe that means transferring some of their state education aid to the cities. Or maybe it just means that, using inclusionary zoning, they should welcome those from the cities who choose to live there by creating some affordable homes.

As Putnam says, I – and all of us – have a responsibility to seek the best, not only for the sweet children in our rearview mirrors each morning, but for all of “our kids” all across Connecticut, too.

Alicia Woodsby is the executive director of the Partnership for Strong Communities, a statewide housing policy organization devoted to preventing and ending homelessness, the creation of affordable homes and the development of strong neighborhoods.

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
One step Connecticut can take to address our maternal mortality crisis
by Myechia Minter-Jordan, MD

Uncertainty. Fear. Worry. These are just a few of the thoughts and emotions that run through the minds of almost every expecting parent. And for many expecting Black parents, those feelings can be more acute. That’s because for far too many, having a child is a life and death struggle.

Connecticut lawmakers on aid in dying: two decades of delay, deferral, obstruction
by Paul Bluestein, MD

Very soon, members of the Connecticut House and Senate will be voting on HB6425, - the Medical Aid in Dying bill. More than 20 years ago, Oregon implemented its Death with Dignity Act. Since then, Washington, Vermont, California, Montana, Colorado, Maine, Washington DC, Hawaii and most recently New Mexico have passed legislation authorizing medical aid in dying for terminally ill adults. But not Connecticut.

The intersection of race, class and gender in America’s childcare system: The class edition
by Georgia Goldburn

When Michelle Obama declared that she wanted to become “Mom in Chief,” she spoke to a sentiment shared by many women, i.e. the desire to […]

A 71-year-old white woman has a request of the police
by Maggie Goodwin

Please officer, begin to look at every traffic stop and nonviolent police intervention as one where you will meet me, a white-haired 71-year-old retired social worker.

A progressive income tax to re-align Connecticut’s moral compass
by Ezra Kaprov

Redistribution of wealth and property is a fundamental and missing pillar of the hope for multi-racial democracy in the United States.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion One step Connecticut can take to address our maternal mortality crisis
by Myechia Minter-Jordan, MD

Uncertainty. Fear. Worry. These are just a few of the thoughts and emotions that run through the minds of almost every expecting parent. And for many expecting Black parents, those feelings can be more acute. That’s because for far too many, having a child is a life and death struggle.

Opinion Connecticut lawmakers on aid in dying: two decades of delay, deferral, obstruction
by Paul Bluestein, MD

Very soon, members of the Connecticut House and Senate will be voting on HB6425, - the Medical Aid in Dying bill. More than 20 years ago, Oregon implemented its Death with Dignity Act. Since then, Washington, Vermont, California, Montana, Colorado, Maine, Washington DC, Hawaii and most recently New Mexico have passed legislation authorizing medical aid in dying for terminally ill adults. But not Connecticut.

Opinion The intersection of race, class and gender in America’s childcare system: The class edition
by Georgia Goldburn

When Michelle Obama declared that she wanted to become “Mom in Chief,” she spoke to a sentiment shared by many women, i.e. the desire to […]

Opinion A progressive income tax to re-align Connecticut’s moral compass
by Ezra Kaprov

Redistribution of wealth and property is a fundamental and missing pillar of the hope for multi-racial democracy in the United States.

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s […]

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is […]

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO